An intelligence exchange conference between Taiwan and Japan's military will go on as planned in October, despite the ongoing Diaoyutai Islands dispute, the United Evening News reported yesterday, citing an anonymous military source.

The annual meeting will take place in Japan for a period of five days, the source said.

According to the source, the intelligence offered by Japan during these exchanges is mostly insignificant and of little value. Taiwan, on the other hand, provides Japan with vital intelligence regarding the deployment of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA).

In fact, this kind of lopsided intelligence exchange has allegedly been forged between Taiwan and many nations besides Japan including India, the Philippines and the United States, all of which desire to get the kind of PLA intelligence that Taiwan has gathered for years.

The source said recently that military personnel from India, Japan, the Philippines and the United States have arrived in Taiwan through the channels of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and are currently staying at the National Defence University, where they are conducting research on PLA intelligence.

One high-ranking military officer from India is disguised as a scholar, while two from the “Jieitai” or the Japan Self-Defence Forces are disguised as workers of Mitsubishi, the source said.

The intelligence that Taiwan gets from Japan and the Philippines is claimed to be mostly outdated and of little value to Taiwan's military, which is not bothered by this because it wants to maintain the appearance of intelligence exchanges with other nations.

The source said that the military has been hoping to obtain Japanese intelligence on PLA deployment in northeastern Asia, yet the it was provided instead with instructions on flying the P-3C anti-submarine jets, which Taiwan recently purchased, in a previous meeting.